Have I Threatened You Before?
by spentlizard
Summary: Speculatory fic for DMTNT. Henry and Carina Smyth accompany Captain Jack Sparrow aboard the Dying Gull in his race for the Trident of Poseidon. As time passes, Jack becomes more and more suspicious of the two would-be pirates, and suspects that there's more to them than meets the eye. To complicate the matter, there's very little rum aboard. One-shot. Multi-view. Lots of rum.


Have I Threatened You Before?

Speculatory fic for DMTNT. Henry and Carina Smyth accompany Captain Jack Sparrow aboard the Dying Gull in his race for the Trident of Poseidon. As time passes, Jack becomes more and more suspicious of the two would-be pirates, and suspects that there's more to them than meets the eye. To complicate the matter, there's very little rum aboard. One-shot.

* * *

It was dusk, and the sun was beginning to set over the horizon, reflecting a bright golden-orange light upon the surface of the calm, green ocean. The air was cool, blowing tiny particles of the salty sea in the faces of the sailors on-board the _Dying Gull._ Despite the ship being practically the worst in the Caribbean, they were making good time on their destination. There was no sign of Salazar for almost a week now, and for that, Jack was grateful. He had once remarked all of the bizarre occurrences on his adventures could be perceived and dealt with as being a bad dream, but after all this time, that idea was beginning to slip away. He had been out on the open sea for years, and while it didn't feel any less like home, part of him was beginning to feel tired.

As if on cue, Jack let out a lengthy, wide yawn, and that feeling of tiredness soon became something physical. He gripped upon the _Gull's_ wheel in an attempt to keep himself awake, but to no avail. He yawned again, and then took notice that the sun had gone down lower into the sea. A sudden thought occurred to him, and he couldn't help but smile at the thought of old times.

"Mr. Gibbs!" Jack called over to his loyal First Mate.

"Aye, Captain?" Gibbs asked, wiping sweat from his brow.

"Take the wheel, I need to rest for a spell," Jack ordered.

"Very well, sir. You look like you could do with some shut-eye anyway. You've been at the helm for quite some time," Gibbs said.

"Duly noted," Jack commented, "If you see the Spaniard, tell him that I do not wish to be disturbed and that we can parlay another day."

"Aye, sir," Gibbs replied, although somewhat halfheartedly, and the Captain made his way below deck to his quarters.

Once inside, Jack sat himself down upon a wooden chair, took off his tricorn and removed his scabbard and pistol from his waist. Placing them upon the table, he let out a long sigh, closed his eyes, and began to rub his temples. He needed to take some time to rejuvenate himself before he fell apart. And the solution came to him like lightning on a palm tree:

Rum.

Jack got up and started looking to see if there were any bottles of rum in his cabin still, but all he managed to find were two bottles, one empty and another _almost_ empty. He eyed the few drops in the bottle with a frown, and the opened the bottle and drank from it what little was left.

"I know _why_ the rum is gone, but that doesn't make things any better!" he remarks to no one in particular. Frustrated, he casually tosses the bottle aside, quickly rushes out of his cabin, and enters the brig where he knew there would be more.

"Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, I know that there's rum here somewhere," he says, searching every nook and cranny for a bottle. Eventually, he finds one, and he sees it's full of the amber liquid he cares for so dearly. Grinning, he grabs the bottle and opens the top, taking in a good whiff of the rum, and smiles widely as he remarks, "Barbados."

Jack is about to take a swig from the bottle when he hears footsteps not too far away, and he became consumed with fear for his rum. He wasn't going to let a single person have it, not even Gibbs. Quickly as he can, he makes sure that his footsteps can't be heard as he abdicates his position, hiding behind some barrels of flour as whomever it is comes closer. Jack peeks out from behind his location to see that the person in question was that boy, Henry, the Royal Navy bloke that busted him from prison in Jamaica.

Henry casually strolled around with his hands in his pockets as he observed his surroundings. As he was doing this, Jack couldn't help but have a sense of deja vu (the French'd come up with that term) regarding another young lad that had broken him out of prison before. By Calypso, they even _looked_ the same. But Jack ultimately decided that such thoughts were nonsense. After all, he had been a eunuch, and was therefore unable of wooing a woman for mating purposes.

As Henry kept strolling, his eyes must've caught something, for he started to leave the general area where he was and traversed to the bow. Jack decided to follow him to see what the boy was up to, and he saw that girl, Carina, over by the window, writing something down in that journal she kept with her by candlelight.

"Hey," Henry began, catching the young astronomer by surprise, making her jump a little.

"Oh, it's you," Carina said, "Sorry, you startled me."

"The fault is mind, I didn't mean to, um, to intrude or anything," Henry said, weakly.

"It's no trouble with me. I needed a breather anyway," Carina smiled, closing her journal and setting it upon the table, "So, how're you faring?"

"I've been well, thanks," Henry responded, "Still no sign of Salazar and Gibbs tells me we're on course."

"I hope we'll be able to make it in time," Carina wished, "Have you talked to Jack at all?"

"Earlier. Said everything was in good order, and he told me that that journal was immensely helpful," Henry said. Jack couldn't disagree, for the coordinates specified had proven to be more reliable than the compass lately for reasons he knew not why.

"That's good to hear," Carina said, and Henry sat down in the chair opposite her.

They sat in a sort of awkward silence for about fifteen seconds before Carina asked a question that Jack never thought he'd hear a woman ask:

"Would you like some rum?"

The offer took Henry by surprise. Not because of social conventions or anything, but because he understood her to be an academic, a woman of science. Drinking rum seems like the last thing one aspiring to achieve great things would do.

"I- er- what?" Henry asked, confused.

"Rum," Carina said matter-of-factly, "As in the drink. Do you want any?"

"Um, I've never actually had rum before, actually," Henry told her.

"Really?" Carina inquired, "Not even on the trip over from England?"

"I'm a sailor in the Royal Navy, but I was born in Jamaica," Henry clarified, "My mother raised me to never touch alcohol of any form, especially rum. She claimed, and I quote, 'it is a vile drink that turns even the most respectable men into complete scoundrels.'"

Jack was swigging from the bottle when he heard this and almost choked on the rum.

Carina laughed, and then said, "Sounds like she was fairly strict."

"No, she's very loving, probably the most loving, caring person you could ever meet," Henry said, very solemnly, "She took such good care of me while my father was out at sea."

"Oh," Carina became solemn herself, "What was it your father did?"

"He was a merchant and ferryman. He was a great man from what my mother told me," Henry said, "I only met him once when I was ten. He's always out at sea, but I don't hate him for it. He does it to provide for us, me and mum."

Carina looked down at the table, wringing her hands together, her face looking somewhat tense.

"Carina, is something wrong?" Henry asked, concerned.

"Nothing, I'm fine," she told him, but Henry knew better; he wasn't easily fooled by anyone. Something was wrong. Just then, Carina reached under the table and placed a half-filled bottle of rum on the table between them.

"Carina, what is it?" Henry asked, whereupon Carina bluntly responded, arms crossed, "Rum. It's an alcoholic beverage contained in a bottle and made with sugar. Any other questions?"

"No! No, I meant what's bothering you? Tell me," Henry requested.

Carina didn't reply, instead popping the cork of the bottle and taking a nice, big swig. The alcohol burned the back of her throat and made her feel warm inside. At the same moment, in order to both remain hidden and also satisfy his desire, Jack took a swig from his own bottle.

"Ah, that's refreshing," she remarked, setting the bottle down.

"Are you going to tell me or not?" Henry asked.

"I'll tell you only if you take a sip of the rum," Carina proposed.

"But, I-" Henry started, before he was cut off by Carina saying, "It's only a sip."

Henry, quickly, took the bottle and took a very miniscule sip of the rum, whereupon he winced and let out a noise of disgust saying, "Ugh! That's disgusting!"

"Weakling," Carina scoffed, and Jack couldn't help but give a light chuckle that couldn't be detected by the two youths.

"How can you _stand_ this stuff?" Henry asked, incredulous.

"Rum is the water of the sea, except for, well, water," Carina elaborated, and the two laughed, "I've just had a liking for it for a long time."

"My mother would kill me if she knew I did this. Alright, now what about your end of the bargain? What's troubling you?" Henry inquired.

Carina took another swig of rum, this time for much longer. Jack did the same. When she set the bottle down, she started again.

"Your mother is still alive, right?" she asked, her tone becoming serious again.

"Yes," Henry replied, "Alive and well."

"And you know your father?" Carina continued.

"Very little, but yes," he answered.

"How lucky," she trailed off, and Henry tried to understand what she was trying to say.

She took yet another large swig.

"I never knew my father," she said, "I was born in London and raised by my mother. She was a housemaid for a very wealthy family in the city, and she was looked down upon for being a mother that never married."

Henry said nothing as his motions became rigid and his full attention was on Carina's words.

"I was illegitimate," she continued, "My mother told me that my father planned to marry her once he came back from sea. Needless to say, he never did. He never even knew I existed."

"What happened to him?" Henry asked.

"He worked for the East India Trading Company. On one of his trips over, his ship was set upon by pirates, and they sunk it off the coast of Cuba," she said, and she didn't notice the tears that had started to come down her face.

She took another swig of the bottle, and Jack had practically finished his bottle already, feeling a little sluggish.

"The only thing I have from him is a telescope that he gave her before he departed," Carina said, reaching below the table and placing between them a small, golden telescope with an engraving of the Union Jack on it.

"I would stargaze every night with my mother using this," she explained, "This is how I came to love astronomy. She would always tell me that if I looked long and hard enough, I would find my father in the Heavens. And for a while, I believed this."

Carina picked up the telescope, twirling it with her fingers.

"She died a few years back. Since then, I've been trying to find acceptance into a university to become a proper astronomer. I've had no luck in England, so I thought that maybe these islands would provide me with a good opportunity. And now, here I am, aboard a pirate ship with a sailor in the Royal Navy and being chased by ghosts," she finished with a laugh, "Sorry, I didn't mean to bore you with my life's story."

"I had no problem with it whatsoever," Henry said humbly, "If it's any consolation, I believe that your parents would be proud of you."

"I know my mother would be proud, but I don't know if my father would be," Carina answered, bitterly, "He abandoned me and left me and my mother to fend for ourselves."

Henry was shocked at her sudden rise in anger, and she continued.

"He never cared. If he did, then he wouldn't have left," she vented.

"Carina, you know that can't be true," Henry began, but Carina cut him off, losing her temper completely.

"And how do you know? Do you know the ridicule my mother suffered for having a bastard child? How we practically lived in squalor? How heavy of a burden it was for my mother just to get a tutor to teach me to read? It was Hell, and I wish that my father had never left for these godforsaken islands full of monsters and pirates!" Carina shouted, and then she began to break down completely.

She took another swig of the bottle, leaving the bottle of rum empty. Jack couldn't help but pity the poor girl for all she had to endure. He had seen his fair share of hardships, but this, for whatever reason, just broke his heart. And he wasn't one to be sensitive to these sort of things.

"I'm so sorry, Henry," Carina apologized, having calmed herself down, "I didn't mean to lose my temper. I never talked about this with anyone before."

Henry silently nodded, understanding the pain of not having a real stable relationship with his own father, who he couldn't see because of that damned curse.

"Anyway, that's probably why I like rum. It helps me think, helps me keep calm and focus. Odd, huh?" she asked.

"I would say so," Henry responded casually.

"Speaking of which, we're out of rum," Carina said, holding up the empty bottle.

"There's probably more aboard if you didn't drink it all already," Henry said, and the two laughed.

Jack had heard enough, way more than he would like. And he was feeling a little drunk himself, so he made his way back to above deck. As he was leaving, Henry spoke to Carina again, saying "I don't want to drag this out, but do you know what ship your father was on when it sunk? I'm curious, it's a hobby of mine to know what ships served His Majesty."

"Yes, actually. Though I do sometimes forget," Carina said, "My mother told me it was called the _Wicked Wench_ or something. Apparently it was a lot nicer than this pathetic boat."

* * *

Jack had made his way up to the deck, where he saw that the sun had stopped setting and up above him was a starry night sky. It was majestic, with little lights flexed across the cosmos. Maybe he could ask Carina what some of the constellations were sometime, once this whole mess with Salazar had come to an end.

"Feelin' alright, Captain?" Gibbs called over from the helm.

"Never better, Mr. Gibbs. I found rum!" Jack exclaimed.

Gibbs chuckled, saying, "That's good to hear, sir. Nice night, is it not?"

"It is impeccable, my whiskery friend. Absolutely impeccable," Jack grinned, seeing how bright the stars were.

He hoped that Carina would eventually find her father among the stars, maybe bring her some peace.

He said goodnight to Gibbs and the crew, and then he headed off to his quarters where he settled in and went out like a light. As he drifted into what would be a nasty hangover the next morning, he dreamed back years ago, sailing across the ocean, garbed in the British blood-red uniform and surveying the sea beyond with a golden telescope.


End file.
